Wolves1
Minister of Fire
Edge I've been take a scoop of ash out everyday and I feel the stove is performing better.
Advice / Review need: Regency CI2600 fireplace insert risky & costly?
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Edge I've been take a scoop of ash out everyday and I feel the stove is performing better.
Wolves1
Minister of Fire
Cinders - did they say anything about making a trench in the ashes so to speak from the front to the back so air can travel?
He didn't specifically say that, but he did say to keep the ashes away from the front center where the air comes in. But in the user manual it does say to make a north south trench in the center for the same reason. Hope that helps.
DaMoose
New Member
Thanks for the info, checked out the manual and i now see where they are. I am going wait until our weather lightens up, (we are in a deep freeze right now) and let the firebox cool before i check and see if they are in fact in or not. I am also going to do a bit of research on this before i go knocking them out.
in regards to you other question. The only modification i have actually done to the insert is remove washers from door and i put some roxul insulation in and above the insert around the chimney liner. That was some advice i got from my chimney sweeper who is also a close friend. He also showed me how to properly load, both of which increased burn time and heat output.
DaMoose
New Member
DaMoose
New Member
Dont know what happened there, but my reply ended up in the blue bubble above. Lol
Wolves1
Minister of Fire
Thank you. Is it because it's warmer it burns better or does it dry a little more?
DaMoose
New Member
The theory behind it is it is much like how you have to climatize hardwood flooring before you install it. As the wood adjusts to your humidity in your room it expands and contracts and climatizes itself, thus getting a little more dense shall we say creating more hotter and longer burning wood.
When you say you get 10-12 hours, is that fan and heat? I spoke with regency and they claim the burn time of 14 hours is just regarding the burning coals. But at 4-5 hours one stops producing heat and the fan shuts off. Is your insert insulated? Did you make any modifications to it like a restrict or plat or taking out the knock out plates. Thanks.
edge-of-the-woods
Feeling the Heat
I think I would be less disappointed with this insert if they didn't have advertise the ridiculous "fourteen hour burn time" and then say "well what that really means is that you can go 14 hours and still have hot coals to start another fire".
That's BS. That's like saying that a car gets 75 miles per gallon....as long as you turn the engine off when you're going downhill.
That's BS. That's like saying that a car gets 75 miles per gallon....as long as you turn the engine off when you're going downhill.
Wolves1
Minister of Fire
With outside temps 40 degrees yesterday I filled the stove at 6am at 7pm with the fan on (not auto) it was still blowing warm air and still keeping the house above 70, the stove temp was reading cool but at 6pm it was reading 350. My feeling the stove will heat your house for 14 hours with temps in the 40 range but when you hit temps in the 20 range you need more BTUs to heat the house so after 8 to 9 hours you need to add wood to get the BTUs up.
A car in the mountains is going to get different mileage than in Kansas. Different terrain. And both cars are going to get lower mileage in winter than in summer. Electric cars always list their summer mileage and never the winter mileage which can be 40% lower. It's the same with stoves. A stove in our state, or BC Canada is going to perform differently than it will in Ottawa. Marketing will normally boast the highest figure, though the more honest ones will at least say "up to 14 hrs.".
Bottom line is there is no official definition of "burn time". It's a marketing term.
I am glad to have found this post - we also share the same issue that others have: our burn time with the CI2600 is far less than 14 hrs. We get at best (and with a generous definition of "burn") 8 hrs of burn time using kiln dried hard wood. To monitor the performance of the unit better, I would love to get a thermometer to measure the temperature (of the flue or the cat?). Do you have any advice which to get and where to install it?
Wolves1
Minister of Fire
The thermometer for the cat is important for this stove, there is a spot to install, its in the manual. You would need the digital cat thermometer.
Today they took out the 2600 and replaced it with the older, (uglier) I3100. These guys were good. In and out in under an hour.
While I am not at all pleased with Regency at this point I am very happy with the local stove place. They have been excellent in dealing with this issue. Any and all problems stem from Regency.
The installer stated that I will be very happy with this replacement. We shall see.
Just started a small break in fire. The next few days will be getting it up top speed. I hope this is eons better than what I had.
Oddly enough when I quizzed him about this stove and if he had seen other people with similar issues he was a bit mum. He did relay what this forum has revealed, that some people have zero issue and others, like myself, Cinders etc. have had nothing but problems. It's a shame really. I think they rushed this stove out without real world testing. Who knows, maybe in a few years they will have worked out the bugs and it will be as great as they advertize. In the interim I am happy to not be one of their beta-testers.
While I am not at all pleased with Regency at this point I am very happy with the local stove place. They have been excellent in dealing with this issue. Any and all problems stem from Regency.
The installer stated that I will be very happy with this replacement. We shall see.
Just started a small break in fire. The next few days will be getting it up top speed. I hope this is eons better than what I had.
Oddly enough when I quizzed him about this stove and if he had seen other people with similar issues he was a bit mum. He did relay what this forum has revealed, that some people have zero issue and others, like myself, Cinders etc. have had nothing but problems. It's a shame really. I think they rushed this stove out without real world testing. Who knows, maybe in a few years they will have worked out the bugs and it will be as great as they advertize. In the interim I am happy to not be one of their beta-testers.
Wolves1
Minister of Fire
Would you mind posting how the i3100 burns in comparison to the ci2600?
I'm anxious to hear how the I3100 is in comparison. I asked the Regency rep about putting insulation in to help lengthen the burn time and he basically said insulation should not be used as Regency has not tested to confirm how it will affect the safety and performance of the unit. Has anyone else put in insulation? How has it helped and how long is your average burn time? What type of insulation did you use. And where or how did you install it?
Today was the first real day of use of the I3100. All I can say is wow! This thing kicks off amazing heat! Now that I have an established ash bed I loaded it up today and got over 7hrs of great heat. Could've gone longer still but wanted to get a load started early eve that I could add to before bed. Upstairs and down is @68F. That is excellent to me since my configuration is not great for flow. The living room has to be up in the 80+ range. Almost unbearable.
It's so easy to control too. A single lever that actually does something for a change. I have been keeping it a little pulled out from closed to keep a good dance of flames and she just motors along pumping out heat.
Lets see what happens tonight. I will top it off before bed and see what happens by morning.
And maybe its me but I feel like this stove is easier to load too. And now that I've been looking at it for 2 days I don't mind the look at all. It's certainly not as sleek as the 2600 but it heads and tails above it in terms of usefulness. The fan on high is loud though. Liveable, but loud.
It's so easy to control too. A single lever that actually does something for a change. I have been keeping it a little pulled out from closed to keep a good dance of flames and she just motors along pumping out heat.
Lets see what happens tonight. I will top it off before bed and see what happens by morning.
And maybe its me but I feel like this stove is easier to load too. And now that I've been looking at it for 2 days I don't mind the look at all. It's certainly not as sleek as the 2600 but it heads and tails above it in terms of usefulness. The fan on high is loud though. Liveable, but loud.
Wow...just wish the 2600 could produce that! Still waiting on the dealer to come back to make the changes and see if that helps. But if not its good to know they're not all lemons! Let me know how it burns overnight.
Wolves1
Minister of Fire
I thought I was getting good burn times after 9 hours stove temp would be about 400, till this morning. I filled the stove last night at 9pm came down 5:30am and temp was still 650.
This is what it looked like. It is now 6:34 and still temp is 600.
This is what it looked like. It is now 6:34 and still temp is 600.
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